Thursday, March 30, 2017

I will be teaching an oriental brush painting class at 10:00 am this Saturday at Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA. Have a request to teach Japanese Koi. What better subject could I paint during the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC??? www.darlenekaplan.com

Sunday, March 26, 2017

People often ask me how and why I named my oriental brush painting studio. Well, here goes!!
From my martial arts study I was advised by my first martial arts instructor to change my medium from oils to the Chinese style of art. Being the loyal student I complied.

My husband and I became part owners in a martial arts studio where I was one of the instructors after I received the rank of Black Belt.

In 1997 a reporter from the Washington Post asked for an interview which I granted. The gentleman wrote an article about the merging of two careers from martial arts to oriental art painting. The article was on the front page of both the Fairfax Journal and the Alexandria Journal. At the time I didn't have a name for my art studio.

If you go to www.darlenekaplan.com and click on Press pg 1 you will see both articles. The Alexandria Journal is at the bottom of the page with the article. The title was, "Black Belt & Soft Brush". I took part of the headline and named my studio "Soft Brush Studio"

ABOUT ME

Kaplan paints in the Lingnan style of Oriental Brush Painting which is a combination
of Western and East Asian art. She has been studying with Henry Wo Yue-Kee from
1987 till present. Mr. Wo paints and teaches this freestyle of ink and color on
rice paper that originated in China centuries ago.